Well, as you will know, we mentioned
already about the Bible being a very important part of the
coronation as Edward VI brought it into being. And we're thankful
still today that the Bible is there as a prominent and very
important item. And we're told the Holy Bible
is taken from the altar and presented to the king. And these words
are said, our gracious King, to keep your majesty ever mindful
of the law and gospel of God as rule for the whole life and
government of Christian princes. We present you with this book,
the most valuable thing that the world affords. Well, that's
a wonderful statement, isn't it? And I'm sure there aren't
many people think that is true. But the reality is, it is true. The Bible is indeed the most
valuable thing that this world affords. So what that really
means is, if we lost everything else and only had the Bible,
we would still have the most valuable thing. And you children
might wonder, well, how can a Bible be valuable? Well, it's valuable
for this very simple reason. The Bible speaks about our life. The Bible speaks about what we've
done, how bad we've been. The Bible speaks about how we
can be saved. It speaks about the Lord Jesus
Christ. It speaks about the wonderful
plan of salvation. And it speaks about eternal things. Reality is that everything on
this earth is just passing, it's not eternal. It has a life. It
may have a life of 10 years, 50 years, 100 years, perhaps
more. But it's not eternal. Whereas
the truth of the Bible is eternal. When you try and compare eternity
with time, well you won't be able to because we can't really
imagine how long eternity is. But that's why we're told it
is the most valuable thing that this world contains. So that's
why Moses, you see in that part we read in Deuteronomy, said
that the kings should read the law and in turn read the word
of God every day. It's the most important thing
in our lives. to read the Bible every day.
It's very easy to put other things first in this world in which
we live. So let's realize that's the most
important thing. Then there were a number of items
which you would have seen if you watched yesterday, what occurred
at the coronation. And perhaps one of the most important
things is the anointing which occurred and you weren't able
to see but i haven't got a picture there there's a picture of the
anointing uh item which actually held the oil the oil was put
in there and then it actually was poured out of the bird's
beak and it was poured into a spoon OK? And then that was poured
onto King Charles. And it was poured in three places. First of all, it says, be thy
hands anointed with holy oil. Then be thy breast anointed with
holy oil. And then be thy head anointed
with holy oil, as kings and priests and prophets Now, that follows
on from the wonderful picture we have in the Bible, which speaks
about King Solomon when he was anointed. And this is spoken
in the coronation. And as Solomon was anointed king
by Zadok the priest, well, of course, in this case, the Archbishop
of Canterbury was the person used. And Nathan the prophet,
so be thou anointed, blessed and consecrated king over the
peoples, whom the Lord thy God hath given thee to rule and govern
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. So we see there a wonderful
statement that as the oil was placed upon the head of the king,
this great and wonderful statement was made to him. The Lord God. You see, the whole coronation
ceremony was under the control of Almighty God. And the assumption
was made that God was there and that those things which were
being spoken were in accordance with God's command. And so he
says, and so be thou anointed, blessed and consecrated king
over the peoples, whom the Lord thy God hath given thee to rule
and govern in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy
Ghost. Well, it's a wonderful thing
to realize that we have such a great and wonderful God who
grants these favours and these blessings. So there we have the,
if you like, the second item, which is the anointing. And that is, of course, a very
important item. And then two relatively small
things, there were the spurs, which he had to touch, and the
sword, which he held, and the touching of the spurs which is
an emblem of a word which is not familiar to you to expect
called chivalry. That really means that as knights
in the old days they were chivalrous, that they had to be kind, they
had to be generous and they had to be accurate and correct in
the things that they did. As they travelled about obviously
on horseback and hence the reason for the spurs. Well, it's good,
therefore, to realize that that is there to remind the king of
this great and important condition. Now, we have not time really
to go through everything, but there was the royal robe, which
you probably saw, of gold, which was placed on the king. And with
the great, with the Lord Charming, when he wasn't actually, in actual
fact, King William, I think fastened the clasps. It's not King William,
Prince William. Fasten the clasps. And so we're
thankful for that. And it was stated, receive this
imperial robe and the Lord your God endure you with knowledge
and wisdom, with majesty and power from on high. The Lord
clothe you with a robe of righteousness and with garments of salvation.
So we see there again a very direct reference to the great
plan of salvation. Because everyone who is born
again by the Spirit is clothed with the robe of righteousness. That's the robe of Christ's righteousness. And it's wonderful and pure. And just as a comparison, people
may think they're righteous, they're doing good things, But
we're told in the Bible that all our righteousnesses are not
good. They're all as filthy rags. They're
not very valuable. And yet, you see, the robe that
the Lord Jesus Christ gives, His righteousness, is absolutely
pure. It's totally white. There's no
fault in it. It's a wonderful garment. And
here, the desire is on that coronation statement that the king might
be clothed with a robe of righteousness and with the garments of salvation. It's a very important picture
for us to try and visualise. But there it is, set forth in
the coronation ceremony. And then we move on to another
item which I have a picture of this time and that's the orb. And this again is very old and
it's been around a long time. And the golden sphere, right,
represents the world. And the cross at the top represents
the sovereignty of Christ over the world. So the very simple
picture means that Christ rules over the whole world. Well, of
course, those who are true believers realize that, realize that Christ
is the King of kings and he does rule over the whole world. But
it's good actually to have a picture like this and an actual symbol
directing us to it. And in the service, this is what
he said, the king holds it in his hand and the Archbishop says,
receive this orb set under the cross and remember that the whole
world is subject to the power and empire of Christ, our Redeemer. Well, we should be very thankful
to know and to believe that that is true. Christ is in charge. He is king over the whole world. Poor old man doesn't like to
think so. He likes to think they can control things. Well, we
have a great king who does, in fact, control everything. So we should be very, very thankful
for that. And then there's the ring which
The king touched, he didn't actually put on. The king actually touched
yesterday on his right hand. And the reality is that that
is a symbol which directs this truth as a wedding ring. between the King and the people
of the United Kingdom. See, there's a joining together.
It's not something which he can just throw off. It's there as
a symbol. The King is symbolically married
to the nation, and the ring is a symbol of power and honour. And then after that, there's
the scepter. Well, you would have seen the
scepter, there were two scepters, one like that with a cross on
the top and the other scepter that the king held was one with
a dove on the top. And so we're told that the archbishop
then places in the hand of the king two scepters, two scepters,
one with a cross, the other with a dove. The first represents
kingly power. and justice through Christ. Again, the significance of that,
you see, God in the person of the Saviour is not omitted. He's there to be spoken of as
he was, and all those millions of people heard the wonderful
statements. And it's a great blessing that
we as a nation are still able to carry out such great and wonderful
actions and to have such truth set before us. So that's the
first. And the second pictures equity
and mercy through the Holy Spirit. So we see there in those two
scepters, the first represents the cross, the Lord Jesus Christ,
and the second represents the Holy Spirit. So we see there
the Christian faith is being displayed very well and very
wonderfully. What a great blessing it is.
Well, we find these great truths in the Bible. Then we come to
the crown. And this really is the conclusion
and the climax of the coronation ceremony. And the crown is the
St. Edward's crown, which you would
have seen. And the St. Edward's crown, you may have
noticed, had a number of wonderful jewels all around the edge. And those jewels, there's 12
of them, and they really represent the 12 tribes of Israel and the
12 apostles. So we see there significance
by our forefathers so many years ago. What a wonderful thing it
was and it was good to see the king with a crown on. Remember
he only wears it once in his lifetime and that occurred yesterday. He won't wear it again and yet
there it was a symbol of him as the king under the Lord Jesus
Christ. What a wonderful thing it is
to think that we have this position. And so it's of interest to realize
that also the high priest of Israel, he was set with 12 precious
stones. And again, these represented
the 12 tribes. And also in the book of the Revelation,
There were 12 foundations of these precious stones showing
lasting unity and strength. So we should be very thankful. And then the Archbishop lays
the crown on the altar and prays. Oh, God, the crown of the faithful. Bless we beseech thee this crown
and so sanctify thy servant Charles upon whose head this day thou
does place it for a sign of royal majesty that he may be filled
with an abundant grace with all princely virtue through the king
eternal Jesus Christ our Lord. Again we should be thankful that
here was a picture to recognize that it's the Lord that has placed
King Charles on the throne. he's come there naturally by
ascension but it's actually the Lord God who has permitted him
to be there and God has placed him there What a mercy that is.
And then the Archbishop comes from the altar and reverently
places the crown on the King's head. And the King is still sitting
in King Ebba's chair. At this point, the people will
repeatedly shout, God save the King. God save the King. What a wonderful blessing it
is to have such a situation and such a picture then. And then
from that time forth, Of course, he is crowned as the ruler, the
almighty God, the king of kings and lord of lords. I just wanted
to just read one further piece if I can find it. Yes. And with
a crown on his head, this is what is spoken. Be your head
anointed with holy oil as kings, priests and prophets were anointed.
And as Solomon was anointed king by Zadok the priest and Nathan
the prophet, so may you be anointed, blessed, consecrated king over
the peoples who the Lord your God has given you to rule and
govern in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Ghost. Amen. And then we read on, when
the anointing screen was removed, the king kneeled before the altar
The Archbishop says, Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
who by his Father was anointed with the oil of gladness above
his fellows by his holy anointing, pour down upon your head and
heart. Note those statements, not only
the head, but into the heart, our soul. It's relevant, isn't
it? The blessing of the Holy Spirit and prosper the works
of your hands, that by the assistance of his heavenly grace you may
govern and preserve the peoples committed to your charge in wealth,
peace, and godliness. And after a long and glorious
course of ruling a temporal kingdom wisely, justly, and religiously,
you may at last be made partaker of an eternal kingdom, through
the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Well, that's a glorious
statement, isn't it? And that was spoken to King Charles
and no doubt he will be able to meditate on it. He would have
got copies, of course, of the Coronation Service and he may
well have read it many times already. And what a blessing
if it has a gracious and glorious effect upon him. I could go into
a number of other aspects but I don't think we have time this
afternoon and I hope there's just been some gracious instruction
for us to realise that the coronation is a ceremony but it's a spiritual
ceremony and it's a ceremony which we can go along with believing
emanates from the truth of God's Word.